Festive
by allonsy-wolf
Summary: It's Christmas time in Pete's World, and the Doctor and Rose Tyler have plenty of reasons to celebrate. Tentoo x Rose Christmas Oneshot. Pure fluff.


Festive

He's always been over-the-top, but she's never seen it like this.

"It's Christmas! What a fantastic holiday!" he says enthusiastically.

Christmas is a little different in Pete's World, though she doesn't have the heart to tell him. She likes seeing him run around, babbling about the joys of snow and family dinners and presents. It's just so DOMESTIC and it's so new that she clings to it with all she has.

It's not quite Christmas yet, but he insists on decorating beforehand. "A Christmas tree in a necessary tradition!" he argues when she tells him no. "Do you really want to wake up on Christmas morning and say, 'Oi, lets go open the presents from under the painfully ugly kitchen table that we need to replace'?"

"Do you want Christmas presents at all?" she retorts back, and it's enough to shut him up. Of course, she eventually caves in the the tree.

And the lights.

And the TONS of tinsel.

She doesn't even hesitate when he brings up Mistletoe.

Because its so domestic - but so HUMAN as well. And she isn't used to human. She expects superiority. She expects him to think he's better than everyone, because he is. But his Time Lord brain is muddled with human, and she loves it. Suddenly, his painful excitement for a daft little holiday isn't so hard to bear. She enjoys it, rather, and indulges him by giving her excitement back. She had never been so festive before, but with his hand in hers and his single heart beating for love, she can't help it.

So they do over-the-top. They decorate the outside of the flat - and the inside. They get a Christmas tree and adorn it with as many things as they can.

(they even add random items, small things that don't belong on a Christmas tree, like a tea cup in the center and a newspaper near the bottom. because its so weird and so them that they can't resist.)

They buy presents, and they find presents. Rose takes one of his ties and wraps it nicely with a bow. He takes her favorite book and places it in a box. She buys him a collection of Ian Drury and a telescope and he buys her flowers and chocolates and a simple, beautiful necklace.

People laugh at them - at their over-the-top enthusiasm. They don't mind it, though. They laugh, too, because what's embarrassing about the beauty of the human conscious? And when they're holding hands, the laughter fades away.

They drink hot chocolate and sing carols and make gingerbread houses. He sets out a plate of cookies on Christmas Eve, and at midnight, they sneak out of their room giggling and eat every last bite of them.

In the morning, he wakes her up by kissing her, and then points to the mistletoe over their bed. She laughs giddily and kisses him hungrily, and it's a long time before they go to open their presents.

"You first," he says excitedly, giving her a present wrapped with TARDIS-blue paper. Her heart aches for a moment, longing for that old blue box. She opens the present gently, and he grins when she squeals happily. She holds up a key, and her eyes shine with hope.

"It's finished?" she asks, breathless, and he takes her by the hand and leads her outside.

It's standing, brand-new and polished. A Police Box, dazzling blue, gleaming in front of their house.

"The Chameleon Circuit WAS working," he explains sheepishly. "But I may or may not have broken it so that it would stay looking like this."

"Oh, but I love it!" she says happily, because she does. Her home is back, and the key he had wrapped as a present is in her hand. She stretches up to kiss him lightly.

They decide not to go in yet. They've become slightly domestic, and Rose wants to finish unwrapping all the presents. He laughs giddily at the telescope she bought him, and she feels embarrassed because the point is moot now.

"We can return it," she says sheepishly. "It was only so you could look at the stars. But we've got the TARDIS now..."

"I'll keep it anyway," he says with a shrug, and she remembers briefly why she loves him so.

They visit Jackie and Pete, open presents with Tony, and eat a small Christmas dinner. Jackie asks them to stay the night, but they quickly say they can't.

(but they could, they realize later, since they have time travel on their side again. they could roam the earth for years and return back to five minutes after they had told Jackie no.)

It's snowing when they return home. The pure white barely tarnishes the brilliant blue of their ship. She smiles at the sight, and reaches for his hand, but he isn't there.

She finds him inside, digging through a drawer in their bedroom. Clothes scatter the floor and she wonders for a moment if he's always been this messy.

"It's not here," he groans, exasperated. She wishes she knew what he was looking for, so maybe she could help him.

She sits down next to him and throws clothes out of the drawers, not bothering to ask what they're searching for. Finally, he groans and stands up.

"Forget it," he says moodily, sulking. She giggles and stands up and kisses him soundly on the lips.

"Now, Spaceman, it's Christmas," she reminds him, slipping her arms around his waist. He smiles down slightly at her and kisses her nose.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he agrees.

He takes her outside after that, where tiny puffs of snow fall from the dark sky above. She's delighted. She has the TARDIS, the man she loves, and snow on Christmas Day. She turns happily to him, where he smiles back proudly.

"I love you, Rose Marion Tyler," he says earnestly.

"As I love you," she says back, squeezing his hand. And they both beam at each other stupidly before he finally takes a shaky breath and steps closer.

"Then answer me this?" he asks, breathless, and she watches him in confusion.

And then he's on one knee, and she starts to cry, and he takes her hand. "I was trying to find your surprise present," he admits. "But I figured this was surprise enough."

He tells her he loves her, she's the light in his dark and muffled world. He talks sweet nothings and finally asks her, "Marry me?"

And she can't even speak because she's too breathless, and she's crying from happiness, and it takes all her willpower to nod and tell him, "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you, you daft, strange creature."

He holds her as it snows, and she states happily at the scene around her.

She's never felt so festive.


End file.
